Lighthouse
by dokebibeats
Summary: (One-Shot!) Peter Parker comforts and consoles bullied Jessica Drew after the effects of the Secret Invasion. Takes place in the very beginning of the Dark Reign Arc.


**Hello there friends! So, I've been just itching to write this story for some time now and I really feel it in my heart that the story in the New Avengers in the beginning of Dark Reign could've gone in direction if the writers in Marvel had more interest paring up Peter and Jessica. Since that never happened, I decided to write a fic that could've happened in the actual comic.**

**Disclaimer: All characters are owned by Marvel**

**P.S. New chapter for Secrets of Oscorp is coming out soon, so don't you fret! :D**

**As usual, please R&amp;R. Thank you very much!**

* * *

"Who the hell invited her?"

"Get out of here, Skrull!"

The short and stubby man with the sheathed claws said to the two angry male Avengers, "Relax, guys. I told her to come. She's had it worse then all of us."

The woman with a long silky black hair, grey jacket, red and yellow suit and a half red-mask with a yellow upside down triangle on her forehead sulked as she made her way out of the living room and said, "I'm sorry. I'll just go."

The man with the red mask with mirror lenses and red and blue suit with a red spider on his back reached out to her and said, "Wait, Jess! Don't go."

As the woman exited the premises, he turned around to face the two angry avengers as he said, "What the hell is the matter with you guys?! She's been tortured for more than a year by the Skrulls, and this is the way you treat her?!"

The man with a black and gold clothing with sandy blond hair replied, "Who knows if she's still a Skrull?" The African-American man next to him added, "Yeah, and maybe she was actually working for Norman the whole time, I mean I just can't trust that woman!"

The man with the red and blue suit stormed off as he said, "Steve Rogers would be ashamed of you two right now."

The man in the red suit's name was Peter Parker, A.K.A. Spider-Man. He was taught that with great power, comes great responsibility. But he knew that it wasn't always about his superpowers because, he also knew that he had the responsibility of being a decent human being and standing up for a friend in need, and that's what exactly he was going to do right now.

He went upstairs up to the roof of the building as he found the woman with the red and yellow suit sitting over the railing as she kept her head down. The sun was setting and the air was foul and rancid from the heavy battle that took place an hour ago. It all happened over a year ago, when a group of alien race called the Skrulls came over to invade earth all because of a prophecy told by their queen that it was their destiny to take over the green and bountiful planet because they lost their homeworld. One by one, Avengers and many other heroes were replaced by the shape-shifting aliens as they started to take over. However in the end, the heroes prevailed once again but it came with heavy consequences of a life of a fellow avenger and trust issues among friends.

Peter walked over to the woman as he sat down next to her. That woman's name was Jessica Drew, A.K.A. Spider-Woman. She had been kidnapped for more than a year and was replaced by the religious psychopathic Skrull queen named Vernanke. She walked around in Jessica's body all that time, infiltrating the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. and was solely responsible for increasing the paranoia of mutant and super-powered community to grow the distrust between the public eye and its heroes.

Jessica kept sulking as she avoided eye contact with Peter as she said, "Thanks for saving me back there. I really needed it."

Peter looked out into the charred fields of damaged buildings and burning aircrafts as he said, "You don't need to thank me. I just had to do what I had to."

Jessica also looked out into the ominous sunset as she said, "It's all my fault."

Peter scratched his head and joked, "Hey now, having a one self-deprecating spider in the team is already enough."

Jessica turned to face Peter as she said, "Peter! If I wasn't captured by the Skrulls, all of this would've never happened. Jan would still be with us today."

Peter gently tapped the British Avenger's shoulder as he said, "It's not your fault. I heard all the details from Bucky Cap, so you shouldn't blame yourself for this."

Jessica lowered her head again as she said, "Peter! If Vernanke never caught me, maybe this Civil War and the Skrull Invasion would've never happened."

Peter lifted up his mask halfway as he said, "Jess, listen. Every single person in this house including me has a blame to take for all the horrible things that happened. Except you, because you didn't ask for this to happen."

Jessica stared down at the ground as she said, "Norman Osborn would've never became the Iron Patriot if the Skrull invasion never happened."

Peter said, "That one is definitely all my fault."

Jessica then looked at Peter desperately in the eyes as she said, "Cap's dead because of me."

Peter replied, "No, he didn't. He died a hero's death and he went out with no regrets at all."

Jessica kicked her legs back and forth aimlessly as she kept looking down at the ground and said, "If I could've just figured out that the Skrulls have infiltrated Hydra as well, then I wouldn't have been put to sleep by that stupid alien queen."

Peter placed his hand on Jessica's shoulder as he said, "They kidnapped you when you lost your powers, and they posed themselves as members of Hydra who promised to give it back to you. They forced you to come with them while manipulating you at your most vulnerable state. You couldn't do anything about it, so don't feel bad about yourself."

Jessica retorted, "I know! It's just that I hate that she had to use my face to infiltrate the Avengers. And I hate the fact that I've been so duped."

She got up as she said, "I'm gonna go back inside. It's getting cold."

* * *

She turned away from peter as a teardrop was flowing through her lenses on her mask and began to walk back inside the building. She noticed that everyone in the building was gone but the short and stubby man with untidy hair was getting his stuff to leave.

Jessica said to him, "Hey, Logan. Thanks for inviting me. I would've been homeless spider lady with dark brooding thoughts if it wasn't for you. You know, even though I'm used to being alone."

The man began put in coat as he walked towards the door and said, "Lady, don't thank me. It was webs' idea to bring you here in the first place."

Jessica pulled her mask down as she was stunned and said, "W-what? Why would he do that for me?"

Logan turned around as he sighed and said, "He said that you deserve a second chance."

Jessica was speechless as Logan then grabbed her by the collar of her S.H.I.E.L.D. jacket and growled, "Listen, woman. I'm only playing nice because I believe in Peter's words. And I don't even like you that much."

_Snikt!_

He sheathed his claw on his right hand and added, "And if I ever see you pulling something shady again, I'll be the first one to gut you, you got that?!"

Jessica nodded quickly as she whimpered in terror as Logan angrily shut the door and left the premises. She sat down on the sofa as she collected herself and thought, _Why would anyone do something like that for me? I've been nothing but extra baggage for this team. All I've ever been up to this point is nothing but a burden to the Avengers. People hate the fact that I exist, so why would anybody do something this nice for me?_

Then she heard the footsteps coming down from the stairs as Peter took off his mask. He smiled brightly at Jessica and said, "Are you feeling better, fair Spider-Woman?"

Jessica frowned as she also took off her red half-mask and looked at Peter as she said, "Why did you invite me back? I don't belong here."

Peter sheepishly scratched his head as he said, "I guess Logan told you about it, huh?"

Jessica retorted, "And why did you tell him of all people to invite me? You know that I hate that smell of the Hudson sewer."

Peter sat down next to her as he said, "I kind of figured that you would take a guy with claws for hands more seriously rather than a dork with a lame spider suit who tells bad jokes on the side."

Jessica smiled weakly for the first time in more than a year as she said to him, "You didn't need to do that for me. I'm used to being alone."

Peter looked at her passionately in the eyes as he said, "Jess! I wasn't gonna let that happen to you again after you spent all those lonely torturous dark days in that Skrull ship. You deserve better than that."

Jessica then sulked again as she said, "No, Peter. You should've not invited me back. No one wants to see my face anymore. When the other Avengers see me, they think: Oh look, there goes that Skrull wench."

Peter gently rubbed Jessica's shoulder as he said, "I don't view it that way. Instead, I see a friend who's being bullied and ostracized for no reason and she needs help and she needs someone to believe in her now more than ever. And if everyone else is going to judge me for standing by her side, fine. That's their problem."

Jessica looked at Peter as she was getting teary-eyed and said, "Why do you trust me so much?"

Peter gazed at her face as he replied, "Because, I have to."

Jessica wiped a tear from her eyes as she said, "No, you don't."

Peter looked downward as he said loudly, "Yes, I do!"

Jessica became silent as she saw Peter angry for the first time in her life. Peter added, "Jessica, my uncle taught me that with great power comes great responsibility. And along with that comes the responsibility of being a better man than anyone else! D-did you really think I was just gonna stand there and do nothing when they were casting you out like a leper, especially after all the shit you just went through?!"

Jessica placed her hands together as she kept her head down to not let Peter see her tears as she said, "But I don't want to be a burden to you, nor anyone else."

Peter then suddenly tightly hugged her as he said, "You're not a burden to anyone! You're a hero!"

Jessica stood still as she stuttered, "H-how am I a hero? I-I've been missing for a year and I didn't do anything remotely useful when we were fighting the Skrulls."

Peter gently rubbed her back as he said, "I saw you leading out the civilians nearby to safety as soon you were freed from your cage from that Skrull ship, even though you could barely walk."

Jessica's cheeks went slightly pink as she said, "T-that was nothing. I was just doing my job."

Peter then let go of the hug as he looked her directly in the face, "Do you know how I knew that you were not a skrull?"

Jessica shook her head lightly.

Peter then gently grabbed Jessica by the shoulders as he said, "You saved a falling baby from a building! The Skrull Jessica was disgusted at Luke Cageand Jessica Jones's baby daughter that she didn't even touch her when she was walking in your body. Did you know that?"

Jessica then smirked lightly as she said, "It looks like even the Skrull queen couldn't copy all of my traits."

Peter added, "I saw how many of the Avengers and civilians giving you dirty looks when you were leading the people out to safety, yet you didn't care for that one bit and helped out the innocent people in need."

Jessica lowered her head again as she said, "Everyone still hates me though."

Peter then inched closer to her as he said, "Cap taught me something very important when he was alive. He taught me that it doesn't matter what the media, the press, your peers, or the whole wide world thinks about you. They don't define who you are. You do: and not by your words, but by your actions. Jess, the fact that you helped out those innocent civilians in need when they ridiculed you is the exact reason why you are a hero. You're _my_ hero."

Jessica blushed as she said, "No one's ever told me anything like that before."

Peter also blushed as he said, "Well, it's the truth."

Jessica then playfully slapped Peter's shoulder as she said, "Pete, you need stop giving me all the credit! You weren't too bad yourself either!"

Peter then looked away from her as he sulked and said, "Except for the fact that I was pretty awful."

Jessica questioned him, "What do you mean by that?"

Peter sighed as he said, "I got beat up pretty bad by the Super Skrulls when I found out where they were hiding you."

Jessica turned around peter's face as she gently caressed his cheek and said, "They're called Super Skrulls for a reason. It's ok, you did your best."

Peter shut his eyes tightly as he said, "When I saw how you were kept in that horrible chamber, I was just so…. angry. And I wanted to beat them to a pulp but I was the one who got smacked around….right in front of your eyes."

Jessica then kissed Peter's left cheek lightly as she said, "It's ok. You saved me in the end, Spidey. That's all that counts."

Peter blushed as he noticed that he had a bright red lipstick mark on his cheek as he gave a sheepish grin and said, "You don't need to do that for me."

Jessica then raised her eyebrows as she said, "Why? You don't like it?"

Peter scratched his head as he replied, "No, I do. It's just that I don't know if I deserve it. After all, it took me more than a year to find you."

Jessica then hugged him tightly and said, "It's ok, Pete. Nobody knew that I was gone for such a long time. I'm just glad that someone had enough luck to find me."

Peter then looked away as he looked away from with her with a weak smile on his face as he said, "It looks like the good old Parker Luck did something useful for once in my life."

Jessica then jumped on him as they lay down on the sofa together. She was on top of him as she buried her face on the crook of his neck as she said with a quivering voice, "I've never been so scared in my life."

Peter then gently stroked her long, black smooth silky strands as he said, "I know. And you won't be anymore."

Jessica started to cry as she kept her head buried on his costume as she said, "I really thought I was gonna be a goner. I thought it was gonna be the end of me."

Peter's eyes also started to tear up as he said, "I-I just can't imagine what they did to you all this time. All this time you were alone and locked up in the most inhumane way in that horrible cell. All this time, somebody used your face to betray your friends to capture them and they blamed you, even though it wasn't your fault."

Jessica looked up as tears were streaming down from her face as she said, "Peter, how can I gain everyone's trust back?"

Peter wiped away her tears as he said in a soothing voice, "Be a hero. Be the Joan of Arc that you were always meant to be. It's not going to be easy, but I'll be right there with you in every step of the way."

Jessica sulked as she said, "I don't know if I can do it. Too much damage has already been done."

Peter hugged her tightly as he said, "You can do it. I know you can. If you ever feel sad and need someone to talk to, I'll be there. If you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I'll be your rock. If you ever feel lost and can't find your way, I'll be your lighthouse."

Jessica's tears started to drench Peter's costume as she said, "Thank you, Peter. You have no idea how much this means to me."

Peter hugged Jessica tighter as he said, "You don't have to thank me. Those monsters used you and played you like an expendable tool, and it shouldn't have happened. And I just can't stand it to see that happen to you any longer. Because in the future, if anybody is going to manipulate and abuse you like that, they're gonna have to answer to me."

* * *

**I really wish that something similar like this could've played out in the comics, oh well this is why we have this medium called Fanfiction :D**

**A/N: Daredevil for Netflix is coming out in 2 days! AHHHHH! I'M SO EXCITED!**


End file.
